Underground (Heritage) Futures? Reimagining the Violent Ecologies of Subterranean Conflict in the Age of Climate Change
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This paper explores the entangled legacies of subterranean conflict landscapes, focusing on the extensive tunnel systems beneath Vimy Ridge on the First World War's Western Front. Arguing against the traditional view of the underground as inert military infrastructure, it conceptualises these tunnels as dynamic ‘ecologies of violence’ (Breithoff Citation2025a) involving both human and more-than-human actors. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship and comparative global case studies, the paper situates these landscapes within broader discussions of vertical perspectives. By doing so it highlights the persistent environmental and agricultural impacts of buried war waste—including contamination and structural collapse—which are exacerbated by accelerating climate change and challenge conventional heritage management approaches. Despite their violent pasts, the paper contends that subterranean conflict landscapes may also serve as sites of regeneration and hope. In doing so, the paper reframes subterranean heritage not only as a hazardous legacy but also as both a conceptual and physical space for reimagining sustainable and resilient futures in a time of environmental crisis.
Source: Landscapes
Authors: Esther Breithoff, Matthew Leonard
Institution: University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Award: G3136025890
OpenAlex ID: W4415917011